hegemony rules

I just handed out the following assignment to students in my Introduction to Communication and Technology class (CMUN 240).  Interestingly, a couple of my students have already given up FB for Lent and are having a pretty hard time.

CMUN 240 – Assignment 2 (15% of final grade)
Due March 18 by 9:00am via e-mail

For this assignment, you will reflect on the role that communication technologies play in your everyday life.  Thompson (quoted in our text) suggests that “an everyday world external to the media is central to individuals’ experience of their lives and their self-formation” (Lister et. al., 2003, p. 253).   This assignment is designed to challenge that assumption.  There are two parts.

First, you need to take a two-day (48 hour) fast from unnecessary new media consumption. During your fast, you should abstain from all non-essential exposure to new media.  By “new media” I mean text messaging, Facebook and other web surfing, instant messaging, iPod listening, etc.  While I don’t expect that you will be able to refrain from all interactions with new media (after all, you do have to check your e-mail for classes, etc.), I do ask that you create a typed log the time you spend using it (and for what purpose) during the course of your two-day fast.  You will turn this log in with your completed assignment.

After completing your fast, I would like you to write a 4 to 5 page reflection on your experience. In your paper, you should focus on Thompson’s suggestion that an experience of life outside the media is critical to our identity and self-formation.  This can be done in several ways.  You might, for example, reflect on your sense of identity and how this is/is not changed by not having access to new media.  Or, you could discuss the ways in which your interactions with others changed (or remained the same) as a result of your lack of new media access.  Still another possibility is for you to write about the connection (or lack thereof) you felt towards the communities of which you’re a part.  The goal of this paper is for you to reflect on your experience in light of one or more of the recent course themes we’re discussing (identity, community, cyborgs/embodiment, etc.).

In your reflection, (1) make a clear argument (provide a thesis) as to the role technology/new media plays in your everyday life, (2) offer clear, specific examples from your fasting experience to support your thesis, and (3) draw upon the course texts to support your argument.  Your paper should include an introduction, good transitions between ideas, and a well-conceived conclusion.  Be sure to include your communication log when you turn in your paper.  Please be creative and have fun with this!

Basics:

• Word file (.doc or .docx)
• 4-5 pages using 12 pt. font (Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana, etc.) double-spaced with 1” margins
• Citations should use APA 5th edition guidelines
• Send your paper by 9:00am on 3/18 to me (amassanari@luc.edu)

You can use the grading rubric included in the syllabus as a guide as to how your work will be assessed.

• The Movie Review: ‘The Happening’
  M. Night Shyamalan’s latest movie, The Happening, is not merely bad. It is an astonishment, so idiotic in conception and inept in execution that, after seeing it, one almost wonders whether it was real or imagined.
  (tags: pop_culture film review the_new_republic criticism)

Another in an ongoing song chart meme series.

Things you might like to do to me, originally uploaded by tankgrrl.

My first attempt at entering the song lyrics pool on Flickr turned out well, I think.

NYT – video games as cultural artifacts

Originally uploaded by tankgrrl.

Once again, I am struck by how much information a simple photo and headline can convey. In this case, the article discusses a move by a group of designers, academics, and journalists to create a “best of” list of video games – arguing that the emerging medium is important to understand and preserve. What I find much more interesting is the unstated reality implied (inscribed, whatever) by this image: the gaming industry is dominated by white men.

Sigh.

Deb Kaplan, a professor and activist who worked in the Department of Comm at the UW passed away unexpectedly. I didn’t know her well, but I was impressed by her research interests and commitment to social change. David Silver has written a really touching tribute to Deb over at his blog. The comments people have posted about Deb are proof positive that one person can make the world a better place.

Do earthquakes and volcanoes count as weather events? In other words, could I view a TV weather report and expect information about said disasters? I’m asking because there was a special on landslides on the Weather Channel tonight. It seems like these sorts of events don’t technically count as weather-related, thus their inclusion on the Weather Channel’s programming is technically incorrect. Perhaps volcanoes alter weather patterns by releasing massive amounts of water vapor and ash in the air, but should they really be classified as “weather”?

…doing your taxes seems like a better idea than reading that one critical article that may unlock the secrets to your dissertation. Actually, no such article exists. At least, I don’t think it does. And if it did, it still wouldn’t mean my diss was actually written, just that I’d have more stuff to contemplate and consider writing about.

So, yeah, tax preparation is looking pretty good right now.

(While writing this posting, I searched for dissertation-related images on Google. Pretty interesting stuff, really. Lots of happy graduates clutching their tome with both hands with a slightly dazed look on their faces. Fortunately, my search was not in vain, for I found this blog containing IA related links that should prove useful for my own work.)

Stuff I listened to this year that I thought was worthwhile (in no particular order)

Here’s to my wonderful grandfather, Karl Massanari, who passed away this evening amidst family and friends. I’m going to miss his kind and generous spirit.

Late Fragment
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
- Raymond Carver